November 9-11,
2001
(Grosses in millions)
Rank
|
Title
|
Weekend
Gross
|
Theater
Count
|
Territory
Count
|
Total
Gross
|
1
|
Scary
Movie 2 |
$6.2
|
1,380
|
41
|
$54.5
|
2
|
The
Others |
$5.4
|
1,134
|
10
|
$17.1
|
3
|
Moulin
Rouge |
$3.0
|
1,673
|
25
|
$93.1
|
4
|
Swordfish |
$2.8
|
1,221
|
28
|
$64.8
|
5
|
Legally
Blonde |
$2.5
|
1,131
|
25
|
$16.0
|
Around
the World Round Up
by Kenan
Bresnan
Magic
came from left and right, as Harry
Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone reigned
in the UK on two-day previews alone, Spirited
Away conjures up $216.7 million,
just $3 million away from the all-time
record, and frighteners led the field in
most other markets.
In the
UK, where previews are always counted in
the opening weekend, Harry Potter
would have easily grabbed the
top spot with a record shattering $9.6
million from sneaks on Saturday and
Sunday in 491 theaters. That easily
passed the market's previous all-time
sneaks record held by, none other than Star
Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace,
which earned a measly (comparably) $3.1
million in 1999. Two other record already
stand under Harry's cap:
The Saturday bounty of $5.1 million
stands as the highest single-day gross in
the U.K., outrunning Toy Story
2's second Saturday; Sunday's
$4.5 million ranks as the biggest Sunday
ever; and it has the highest advanced
ticket sales with $3.2 million as of
Friday. There is no doubt that Harry
Potter & the Philosopher's Stone will
take the record away from Episode
I, which scored $13.9 million on
its opening weekend. Not only will it
crush the previous record it could
conquer the U.K.'s all-time chart when
then are said and done. The current
record holder is Titanic with
a monstrous $119,168,000. $9.6 million is
also this year's highest opening weekend,
defeating Hannibal's $9.1
million. All this one week before its
opening. Watch out Titanic!
Records
aren't only being broken in the U.K., but
in Japan and Austria, local pics are
shattering records as well. In the Land
of the Rising Sun, Spirited Away has
now brought in $216.7 million since its
July 20 release and has only left the
number one position for Lara
Croft: Tomb Raider's opening
weekend. It has taken the number one spot
away from Titanic in
local currency as well. It has also
passed Japan's previous homemade movie's
record after tanking Princess
Mononoke's $163.5 million made
in 1997. In Austria, a record is broken
every day for Der Schuh des
Manitu. It passed Austria's
all-time highest grossing film a month
back and is still at the third position
on the chart. Still climbing, the picture
now has $10,646,910.
Elsewhere
around the world, scary movies ruled the
box office. In the U.K., The
Others scared up another $2.5
million for $7.3 million in two weeks. In
Australia, the Nicole Kidman starrer took
a thrilling $1.4 million on 302 screens.
The chiller has done well all-around,
especially in Spanish-speaking markets.
It fell a reasonable 30% in Mexico, for
$5.2 million in two weeks. It already has
cumed $46 million from just 14 markets.
It should easily pass the century mark
before year's end.
Horror
spoof Scary Movie 2
captivated Germany and Austria with a
terrific $4.3 million on 663 and $505,125
on 89 respectively. In Spain it has
collared a lusty $4.9 million in 10 days,
hoisting its foreign total to a good, but
not great, $54.5 million from 41
territories.
Horror
fans also turned out for MGM's Jeepers
Creepers. In Spain, the
much-needed horror flick generated
$802,000 on 221. In the U.K., its still
hot in its forth with $8.3 million total.
After a
stalled start in Japan and South Korea, Training
Day coined a respectable $1
million on 232 in France, $718,000 on 177
in Spain, and a very good $227,000 on 30
in Belgium. Don't look for this numbers
to drop until Harry Potter comes
riding into town.
Cats
& Dogs is a whisker away
from becoming the 17th title to cross the
$100 million mark this year, with $99.5
million in the till, boosted by Italy's
O.K. $2.3 million in 10 days.
Disney's
kidpic, Atlantis: The Lost Empire,
is feeling the ravages of Harry
Potter scoring on $480,000 on
134 in Sweden, $250,000 on 49 in Denmark,
and steep 54% fall in the U.K. The film
has only amassed $34 million to date.
The
Mexican courts agreed on Reese
Witherspoon, as her film, Legally
Blonde, scored a decent $332,000
on 105. In The Netherlands, it musterd a
good $244,000 on 66, and in Brazil it
faltered at $255,000 on 102.
Next
weekend, Harry Potter & the
Philosopher's Stone is released
on over 1,000 prints at about 500
theaters in the United Kingdom for what
should be the highest opening weekend
ever. My Brother Tom and
Ghost World also hit the
limited release market in the U.K. Moulin
Rouge dances its way into
Lithuania with only Japan after that. All
the mediocre films dry out Germany: Driven,
Glitter, and The
Crew are released along with a
re-release of Dr. Seuss's How the
Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim
Carrey version) and Legally
Blonde. A Knight's Tale challenges
mostly French films at 455 sites in
France.
Harry
Potter albeit will taking in
somewhere north of $22 million in its
opening weekend (including previews) in
the U.K. In Germany Scary Movie 2
and Swordfish should
contend for the top beating all the other
openers. And in France A Knight's
Tale should easily win.
These are my predicted
foreign totals for the selected films:
Harry Potter &
the Sorcerer's Stone: $577
million (I'm going out on a limb)
Atlantis: The Lost
Empire: $78 million
The Princess
Diaries: $71 million
Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider: $141 million
Swordfish: $85
million
Shrek: $259
million
Bridget Jones's
Diary: $171 million
A.I.: Artificial
Intelligence: $181 million
Cats & Dogs:
$110 million
American Pie 2:
$161 million
The Others:
$126 million
*Numbers are changed
whenever a market produces unexpected
numbers.
Check out the FRANCE
FORECAST
|